Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: thirstiness, dryness, parched, craving, strong desire, longing, yearning, avidity, hunger, voracity, keenness, eagerness, lust, appetite, passion, love, crave, want, covet, desire, hunger for/after, lust for/after, hanker for/after, have one's heart set on

Antonyms: aversion, distaste, apathy, dislike, hatred, antipathy, disgust, disregard, abhorrence, acrimony, wet, animosity, animus, antagonism, bad feeling, bitterness, be averse to, detestation

Showing 226 to 250 of 4959 results

226. Proper 12

Ephesians 3:14-21, John 6:16-24, John 6:1-15, 2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... praying for his people. Paul bows his knees as he begs God to bless his people. He does not merely suggest or even better ask for blessings but he begs, pleads and beseeches God to grant certain petitions. The posture of kneeling expresses the intensity of his desire. He wants these blessings for his people more than anything else in the world: their physical welfare, a peaceful world, or a sound mind. As he is begging not for himself but for his people. Why? Because he loves them. 2. Know (v. 19). One of ...

227. Settling In Celebration

Romans 12:1-2

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... should we celebrate? As you can see, the answer to "WHY?" is really quite simple. We are fearfully and wonderfully made in God's Image. We were created to be in relationship with God and when that relationship is broken, so are we. God loves us so much; desires to be in relationship with us so much that God sent Jesus to restore that relationship. It cost him the cross but through the cross, Jesus was able to become the bridge between our brokenness and God. That's WHY. That's WHY we celebrate. That's WHY ...

228. The Devil Doesn't Tempt, He Suggests

Luke 4:1-13

Illustration

Carla Thompson Powell

Temptations are almost always based on our own legitimate wants and needs. Desire for food, desire for human intimacy, or desire for approval from others is not from the devil. These are normal, perhaps even innocent, desires, but they do at times make us more vulnerable to temptation. C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters (1943) are fictional letters written from one devil to another. In one letter Screwtape writes to Wormwood: "I once had a patient, a sound atheist, who used to read in the British ...

229. Our Own Wilderness Experience

Luke 4:1-13

Illustration

Leah Grace Goodwin

... God be tempted by something that is potentially sinful? Spirit-filled, sanctified, spiritually vibrant Christians are still subject to temptation. Jesus was hungry. There was nothing wrong with craving bread after a forty-day fast. All of us have certain desires, wants, needs, both physical and emotional. We crave food when we are hungry. We need companionship, acceptance, approval of others, love and appreciation. These are legitimate needs. And even our wants are not necessarily sinful. How then do they ...

230. Conflict Resolution (Series: Fundamentals of Family)

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... than tired when she sleeps all the time; she is depressed. Johnny’s friends are not responsible for his drug use. Johnny is responsible. In Psalm 51, when King David starts to confess his sins against Uriah and Bathsheba, he begins by saying that God desires truth in the most inner parts of our being. Honesty with ourselves is a first step toward freedom. We do not help ourselves or others by living in the darkness of denial. Somebody needs to turn up the lights. The Philosopher Aristotle gave this advice ...

231. More Than We Are - Graduation

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... hope, some dream to cling to, Some rainbow in the sky, Some melody to sing to, Some service that is high. .Harriet due Autermont, Masterpieces p.306 God has set eternity in our hearts. We want to be more than we are! The human being is the only animal whose desires increase as they are fed. This is the way it is. No matter what we have we are never fully satisfied. As human beings, created in the image of God, we have been brought under the spell of a gnawing discontent. Again, I’m glad it’s that way ...

232. Should America Repent?

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... bunch of If you have it all worked out, if you never miss the mark, if you do it all right all the time, then, go on home, you do not need to hear the rest of the sermon. But, if you are like the rest of us, if your desires, dreams, hopes, and aspirations are far off the mark of your high calling, then, you belong in this community of the wounded and repenting. Will Willimon tells about visiting with a professor at Duke Medical School who said, “I give thanks to God everyday that I am a Lutheran, not ...

233. Surprise

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... by joy." He wrote a whole book about it. Lewis was raised in a Christian home. But his intellectualism led him to atheism. Lewis, however, could never get comfortable with his disbelief. As he said, “I could not get away from Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet." Then in the Trinity term of 1929 he was brought kicking, struggling, eyes darting in every direction, back home to Christ. He was overwhelmed by joy. What a difference that one man's conversion made to the twentieth century. C.S. Lewis ...

234. Personal Politics

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... circle formed by current members. There he was asked by the abbot, "What do you come seeking?" The answers varied, of course, in line with the individual's recent experiences. Some said, "I come seeking a deeper relationship with God." Others were more pragmatic: "I desire to become more disciplined in my practices of life." And there were always a few who were simply running away: "I hope to find solace from the world and refuge from the problems that have plagued me." But Merton said that there was really ...

235. 1 Timothy 2:1-7

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... and suspicion from the pagan majority. But further depth of reading reveals this “quiet and peaceable life” is not the end goal of the faithful. Rather the Christian’s destination is the sharing of the gospel message, the message that “God our Savior . . . desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (v.4). The prayers that are to be offered “for everyone,” a life lived in “godliness and dignity,” are means to an evangelistic end — bringing the good news to all ...

236. The Garden of Temptation

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... compound her error, she gave a bite to Adam. And so Eve has been blamed since time immemorial for leading Adam into sin. But note how the story reads: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Gen. 3:6, emphasis added). Adam was with Eve when she ate the forbidden fruit. Bear in mind that Eve was not present when God told ...

237. Act Quickly - Catch It Early

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... be. Get rid of it. Act quickly. Let it go. But how do you do that? The best way to let go of negative, hurtful emotions or desires is to turn to God. Don’t try to handle it alone. Leslie Dunkin once told about a dog he had when he was a boy. His ... , but it is also true. The best thing you can do when you are tempted by anger or lust or any other hurtful emotion or desire is to keep your gaze fixed on your faith. If you have committed yourself to Christ, you know what is right and what is wrong. You ...

238. Soul Bread!

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... have a relationship with him. "He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them" (Hebrews 7:25). And now the third point: We have seen that Jesus Christ is a real personality and that he desires to have a full relationship with us. Then there is this: Jesus Christ is a pleasing companion. That is, he satisfies. Listen again to what he promises in our text: "Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty ...

239. The Place beyond Revenge

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... reading on the train the morning of September 11, and wasn't remotely curious about how it ended. That I had no desire to read another one. I had always found them relaxing, those page turners, relaxing in direct and strange proportion to their goriness ... reading on the train the morning of September 11, and wasn't remotely curious about how it ended. That I had no desire to read another one. I had always found them relaxing, those page turners, relaxing in direct and strange proportion to their goriness ...

240. I Want My Dollar Back!

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... give. But don’t refuse to give simply because you are afraid. Frances Ridley Havergal was a young English woman, daughter of an Anglican pastor. She was chronically ill most of her life, and she was not a woman blessed with wonderful gifts of any kind. Yet she desired to give what she had back to Christ. She had a passion for missions. One day she determined that she really had no need of her jewelry. She packed it all up, all save a couple of pieces with some sentimental value, and shipped it off to the ...

241. Blind Ambition

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... , and a piece of clothing to various locations. Then they were timed how long it took them to successfully iron their particular fabric under extreme conditions. (3) We live in a competitive world . . . and that’s not all bad. The desire to get ahead, the desire to rise to the top, the desire to be number one has driven many people to live productive lives. Our society is based on a healthy level of competition. Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs were both very competitive. That is why we have two of the ...

242. Obedience: Our Gift to Jesus

Hebrews 10:5-10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... award — could not be measured against simply being obedient. Obedience seems like such an easy task, yet in our contemporary world, which concentrates on self-promotion, being obedient is difficult. We learn the same lesson on this fourth Sunday of Advent. What Christ desires for a present on Christmas Day is not gold, frankincense, and myrrh, or any other material thing. What Jesus wants and can expect from us is our obedience — to be the best person we can possibly be. The letter to the Hebrews, from ...

243. Enemies of the Cross

Philippians 3:17 - 4:1

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... In fact, there may have been members of both groups in the congregation in Philippi that Paul had in mind when he wrote this. Like two dogs fighting each other, biting at each other's throat, they are mortal enemies with nothing in common ... other than their desire to destroy the other. That is exactly the point! They are fighting each other, but they have their tails tied together. They both share the same assumption: they have to win; they have to be right; they have to succeed ... and it is up to them ...

244. Freedom Calling

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... wherever we are, instead of destroying it. We, too, can use our freedom to love our neighbor as ourselves — within our own households and church, and in the world around us. Our scripture text challenges us to turn away from "what the flesh desires" to "the fruit of the Spirit." That means replacing hatred with love, replacing strife and quarrels with peace. On a very practical level, it means refusing to engage in adultery or domestic violence, out of respect and faithfulness to our marriage partner. It ...

245. Pastor, Don't Talk About That!

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... . St. Paul put it this way, “Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7). Most of you know that I am not a rigid person. My preaching would hardly qualify as fire and brimstone. And I have no desire at all to increase anyone’s level of guilt. But I do believe there is a moral law at work in this world and whenever we violate that law, there are consequences. Obviously there are times when people find themselves in difficult situations and maintaining that law ...

246. The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Acts 20:13-38

Sermon

James Merritt

... around that Milky Way as it rolled over and over between his teeth. His dad didn’t say another word to his son that Christmas Day. The son’s problem in this story was the same problem we all have, which is the desire to get, the desire to receive, the desire to get the long end of the stick, the desire to get what we want even if it may mean taking it from someone else. In short, the son wasn’t giving to give; he was giving to get. Do you know why? Because, that young man was convinced that it is ...

247. Spiritual Marines

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

James Merritt

... coerce you to follow Him. He will bless you if you follow Him, but He want make you follow Him. You must decide on your own and desire in your heart to follow Him. I am so glad I can stand up at any time, anywhere, and say to anybody: “If you want to be ... Him, but we have to die in order for Him to live in us. That’s what he meant when he said in v.24, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” In other words, you have two choices: You can ...

248. Everything Must Go: Striking It Rich

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... in the evening, went home and ate dinner, went to bed at 9:00pm and did that 7 days a week. He said, “I have no other interests in my life, but my business. I don’t love money. What I do love is getting it!” Here is where this desire leads, “It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (I Timothy 6:10b, ESV) Spiritually, it can lead you away from God. Personally, it can cause you a lot of heartache and a lot of grief that we have ...

249. Body

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... anguished exile from the Lord’s presence. Paul has already stated that he fixes his eyes “not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (4:18), that is, on the eternal glory which far outweighs his current plight. 5:8 Paul again expresses here his earnest desire to be with the Lord. For the apostle, death (being away from the body) is preferable to life in the body, for it means being at home with the Lord. He realizes, however, that may be necessary for him to continue living in order to carry out God ...

250. The Law and the Promise

Galatians 3:15-25, Galatians 3:1-14

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... T. Wright, who understands Paul to be affirming the divine origin of the law while at the same time considering that “the law cannot be God’s final word.” For Wright the key to Paul’s argument is his conviction that the unity of God means that God desires also a single family. The problem with the law is that it was given to one race only. The law, therefore, had temporary status in God’s plan. (“The Seed and the Mediator: Galatians 3.15–20” in The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law ...

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